The disclosure relates to methods and systems for dynamically identifying remotely located media. More particularly, the methods and systems described herein relate to analyzing user preferences to dynamically identify remotely located media for local access.
Typical public entertainment venues—such as bars, cafes, or bowling alleys—have audiovisual reproduction systems. These systems are commonly composed of a sound reproduction machine that is linked to a monitor that displays video images. The sound reproduction machine is usually equipped with a library of physical media contained on compact discs, DVD, Blue Ray, or other digital storage systems, as is increasingly common, equipped to receive a stream via satellite channel or internet-connected radio. This machine will commonly have mechanical or digital selection buttons that a consumer can use to locate the available musical titles. A consumer pays the required fee and then selects one or more pieces from the library. The machine then locates the selected media and plays it in the order in which the request was received.
There are several drawbacks to these conventional systems. The machines are usually bulky because of the large amount of space needed to store a physical library. This typically makes the systems impractical for smaller venues. Additionally, these systems use mechanical hardware that has high fault rates and is subject to failure. Furthermore, the physical library is generally difficult and expensive to update. This is a significant drawback because the public's demand for particular pieces is constantly changing and conventional systems make it prohibitively expensive to eliminate pieces in the library that are rarely played or to add newly popular media.
Digital jukeboxes have more recently been developed that provide a larger selection of media files, and a more efficient means of updating the media library that does not generally involve service calls. Some of these digital jukeboxes use a client-server software system that allows an operator to manage its jukeboxes through a central control system. However, there are drawbacks to these systems as well. One drawback to such systems is that typically the stream of media played in a venue is pre-programmed by an editor who dictates the collection of media that they think will be most entertaining to people in the venue—without having access to a system that recognizes individuals within the venue or those individuals' media preferences. The systems are typically complicated, bulky, and expensive. Further, they require a customer to locate the device within a venue and learn how to navigate an unfamiliar system before making a purchase. Many of these systems operate primarily as digital advertising screens with only a secondary component devoted to providing entertainment media. These systems do not typically provide continuous music—or do so at a prohibitively high cost. Many venues find these large advertising screens unseemly and an ill fit to the atmosphere in their venue. Additionally, these systems operate in isolation from each other, and do not typically implement any of the social networking features that users desire, nor do they allow for data collection and analysis to provide opportunities for monetization and enhanced consumer engagement.